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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26896813">Runaways</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyZoZo/pseuds/LadyZoZo'>LadyZoZo</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Who &amp; Related Fandoms</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood and Gore, F/F, F/M, M/M, Murder, Oneshot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:29:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,204</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26896813</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyZoZo/pseuds/LadyZoZo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Runaways</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The trail of miniaturised corpses left all over the universe were clearly begging for the Doctor to find them.</p>
<p>The first had been on Earth, in the late 20th century. A note had been attached to it, telling the Doctor to go look for more.</p>
<p>Obviously the Master was the culprit here, the Doctor had no doubt in her mind about it. More than likely the short one in black velvet, he was always the one with the biggest shrinking obsession.</p>
<p>Since finding the first body, the Doctor had searched all over the universe for them. From Earth, to Varos to Alpha Centuri to Venutia, the Doctor had looked all over and found twenty three of the shrunken bodies, each with a note on them. It didn’t take the Doctor long to realise that the notes were written in code, and that once she had them all they would form a set of coordinates.</p>
<p>Thankfully it only took the Doctor a few hours to locate each body and by the time she’d collected all the notes, put them in order and told the various local authorities about the bodies, it had barely been a day for her. Of course seeing all the bodies disappointed her, she really wished the Master would break that awful murder habit, but she had to push those feelings aside. He almost certainly had something much worse planned and the Doctor had to stop him.</p>
<p>Once each note was decoded and put into order the Doctor immediately sets the TARDIS off to wherever the Master was hiding. Or wherever he was leading her too. Both options were probably bad and knowing this version of him he was probably hiding out somewhere in a rubbish disguise.</p>
<p>The second the TARDIS lands the Doctor marches out of the console room and swings open the police box doors. She grimaces immediately as the rotten smell of freshly bled blood enters her nose.</p>
<p>A quick look around told the Doctor that she was in a hotel lobby. A pile of bodies was in the corner of the room, each body covered with either stab wounds, burn marks or both. The Doctor wrinkles her nose at it and walks over, just to make sure none were alive.</p>
<p>“Hh… help…” One of the bodies says, blood dripping from their mouth. The Doctor rushes over to them and supports their head with her hand.</p>
<p>“It's ok,” She assures them, “You’re ok, I’m here for you.”</p>
<p>“The man…” He coughs out some blood as he talks. “The man is in the…”</p>
<p>“Shush now.” The Doctor says calmingly. “Don’t strain yourself.”</p>
<p>“Staff room.” The man presses some bloodstained keys into the Doctor’s palm. “He has my co-workers cap-” He stops talking to cough up more blood. The Doctor clutches the keys in her fist and hushes the man once more.</p>
<p>“I’ll save them, don’t worry about it. Where’s the staff room?”</p>
<p>“Third floor.” The man coughs. “Second corri-” He coughs again, the life visibly draining from his eyes. “Help them…”</p>
<p>The life drains from the man’s eyes as he says his final words. The Doctor exhales sadly and shuts their eyes. “I will, I swear.”</p>
<p>The Doctor forces themself to stand up straight again, pushing the image of the dying man out of their mind, and heads over to the lift. She immediately hits the button for floor three and begins tapping her fingers against her leg anxiously, just hoping that there was someone left to help.</p>
<p>~🌺~</p>
<p>“Please sir. Please let us out.” The whimpering man grabs the bars of the cage and looks up at the Master with tearful eyes. “Please, I’ll do anything.”</p>
<p>The Master sighs and looks down at the cage. It was jammed full of the staff members of this establishment and had just enough space inside for each one to move and breathe well enough. Honestly he had no idea what they were complaining about, there were farm animals with less space than them.</p>
<p>“Please.” The man blubbers. “I’m begging you.”</p>
<p>“Oh you’re begging me, are you?” The Master asks, not bothering to hide the sarcasm in his voice. “Well I’m shocked, I never would have guessed.”</p>
<p>“Please sir.” The man sobs.</p>
<p>“Tell me young man, what’s your name?”</p>
<p>The crying man falters for a moment but then says, “Ben, my name is Ben.”</p>
<p>“And how old are you, Ben?”</p>
<p>“Twenty four.”</p>
<p>“Hmm…” The Master gets up his chair and opens the cage door. He grabs Ben by the arm, yanks him out, then shuts the cage before any of the others can try to escape. “Come here Ben.”</p>
<p>The Master drags the sobbing man to his feet and looks him in the eyes.</p>
<p>“Thank you sir.” He sobs. “C- can I go?”</p>
<p>“In a minute.” The Master assures him. “Now, look into my eyes, yes just like that, look into my eyes Ben.”</p>
<p>Ben frowns but does it, staring the Master in the eyes. “Why?”</p>
<p>“Shush now Ben, just do as you’re told.” The Master says it almost soothingly, as though to lull the boy into a false sense of security. “Yes there we go Ben, just do as I say and look into my eyes. Just like that, yes. Obey me and gaze into my eyes, do you see how the light reflects off the blue of my irises? I am the Master and you will obey me.”</p>
<p>“Obey… you?” Ben stops sobbing, his traumatised demeanor replaced with one of sleepy obedience. “I will obey you, Master.”</p>
<p>“Good boy.” The Master smiles. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small blade. He presses it into Ben’s hand. “Now, then Ben, take this.”</p>
<p>“Yes Master.” Ben takes the knife and stares blankly at the Master, as though daydreaming.</p>
<p>“Go to the cage Ben.”</p>
<p>“Yes Master.” Ben does as he’s told and walks over to the cage.</p>
<p>“Open it.”</p>
<p>Ben opens it and the other captives back away from him as quickly as they can, all very aware of something funny going on.</p>
<p>“Take one of the others, any of them, and drag them out.”</p>
<p>Ben does this too. He yanks out a young woman, barely younger than himself, and then shuts the cage.</p>
<p>“And kill her.” The Master smiles at the woman as she throws him a terrified look.</p>
<p>“Wh- what?” She asks.</p>
<p>“You heard me Ben.” The Master smiles, ignoring her. “Kill her.”</p>
<p>Ben presses the blade to the woman’s abdomen and falters, frowning at his own actions.</p>
<p>“Ben!” The Master exclaims, raising his voice finally. “Obey me and kill her!”</p>
<p>“Or how about you don’t.” A new voice enters the room, authoritative and loud. Everyone turns to face the door, to examine the newcomer. A tall Time Lord in a deep blue jacket and a colourful shirt was standing in the doorway, their eyes trained on the Master. “Snap out of it Ben.” They snap their fingers at the boy and saunter into the room.</p>
<p>Ben blinks and drops the blade, visibly confused. The Master just chuckles. “I see you found my little trail then Doctor.”</p>
<p>“Unfortunately.” The Doctor remarks. They turn to Ben and the woman and ask, “Are you two alright?”</p>
<p>They both nod, the confusion written across their face.</p>
<p>“Good. Go, get out of here. Call an ambulance.” The Doctor pats Ben reassuringly on the shoulder and turns back to the Master. The pair of newly traumatised humans run out of the room. The Doctor raises an eyebrow at the Master. “I’ve got to admit, I wasn’t expecting you. This you I mean.”</p>
<p>“That makes two of us then.” The Master smiles cruelly. “I was expecting the handsome you with the velvet jacket.”</p>
<p>“Are you saying I’m not handsome?” The Doctor remarks. They stroll over to the cage and open it up, letting out the captives. “Go on, all of you out, go to the nearest hospital.”</p>
<p>The group of captives rush out of the cage, all very scared and jittery. They run out of the room, some looking back at the Master, who only smiles at them. Once they’re all gone the Master sighs. “I was looking forward to killing them.” He pouts at the Doctor. “Oh go on, can I have one of them at least?”</p>
<p>“No.” The Doctor sits down in the Master’s chair, crosses her legs and looks up at him. “Well then, what do you want?”</p>
<p>“Who says I want anything?”</p>
<p>“Oh don’t bother.” The Doctor sighs. “You left two dozen corpses around the universe for me to find, I don’t think you, or anyone, would just do that just because you wanted a chat.”</p>
<p>The Master winces and puts a hand over his right heart. “Oh Doctor, you wound me.” He smiles and then lets his face drop, sighing in defeat. “But you’re correct, this isn’t just a social call.”</p>
<p>“I knew it.” The Doctor smirks smugly. “What do you want?”</p>
<p>“I’ve found myself in… a bit of a precarious predicament.” The Master leans against the desk behind him and stares at the Doctor’s eyes. He hadn’t actually met this one yet, not that he was about to admit it, so he was naturally fascinated by them. They were so different, yet so familiar. He almost wanted to tie her down and interrogate her, just to get to know them a little better. That would be inappropriate though, so he wasn’t going to do that.</p>
<p>“When aren’t you?” The Doctor clasps their hands together and sits back. “So what is it this time? You allied yourself with someone who figured out who you are? You killed someone you shouldn’t have?”</p>
<p>“You are enjoying this far too much my dear.”</p>
<p>The Doctor merely shrugs. “Go on then.”</p>
<p>The Master sighs. “I’m on the run. From Gallifrey.”</p>
<p>The Doctor perks up immediately.</p>
<p>“Exactly.” The Master notes their reaction. “I won’t go into the specifics, but they want me to do something to aid them in their…” He cuts himself off before he can say anything, unsure as to whether or not this Doctor knows about the Time War. “Well lets just say aid them in something rather terrible.”</p>
<p>“That sounds right up your alley though. Why are you refusing?”</p>
<p>“None of your business.” The Master snaps, glaring at the Doctor. He breathes out to calm himself and carries on. “Listen, they’ve put a tracker on my TARDIS. I have them following it on a wild goose chase at the moment but it shan’t be long until they trace it back to me. I… I need your help Doctor.” The Master breathes in nervously. What was wrong with him, he was never nervous, why was this next question bothering him so much? “Doctor would you mind if I stuck with you for a while? I know you have a knack for avoiding the Time Lords, particularly when they’re pestering you with requests.”</p>
<p>The Doctor smiles and leans forwards, uncrossing their legs and chuckling to themself. “So you want me to take you in? All because you can’t be bothered to go home for a quick visit?”</p>
<p>“Now that's undermining it a little bit don’t you think?”</p>
<p>“Alright.”</p>
<p>“In fact I don’t even know why I’m- pardon me?”</p>
<p>“Alright then.” The Doctor repeats. “You can come with me.”</p>
<p>“Oh.” The Master hadn’t expected this. “Well… I… thank you, I suppose.”</p>
<p>“But there’s something you should probably know before you decide whether or not to come with me.”</p>
<p>“And what’s that?”</p>
<p>“I’m on the run from Gallifrey too.” The Doctor throws the Master a smirk, as if she were revealing something huge, which she sort of was. The Master’s own face drops at her words.</p>
<p>“You’re what?”</p>
<p>“I’m a fugitive myself.” The Doctor confirms. “I won’t bore you with the details but I'm not on the best of terms with some friends back home either.” She stands up and offers her hand to the Master. “So I suppose if we’re both on the run we may as well be on the run together.”</p>
<p>“How… fascinating.” The Master was confused by her confession, why on Earth would she be on the run? But he decides not to pry. If she wanted him to know why then she would have told him. The Master masks his confusion with a smile and decides to take her hand, his hearts warming as their hands touch. It had been centuries since they’d last held hands. “Alright Doctor, I’ll accept your offer.” He pulls himself up off the desk and stands with the Doctor.</p>
<p>“You were the one who made the offer.” The Doctor reminds him.</p>
<p>“Was I?” The Master smiles. “I don’t think I was.”</p>
<p>The Doctor starts to argue but the sound of sirens cuts them off.</p>
<p>“I believe that's our cue to leave.” The Master looks over at the Doctor, his hearts still beating twice as fast as usual.</p>
<p>“I believe it is.” The Doctor agrees. “Come on, the TARDIS is in the lobby.”</p>
<p>The Doctor and the Master leave the staff room hand in hand, ignoring the vast amount of blood and bodies on the way to the TARDIS. Neither Time Lord said it, but both were feeling overjoyed at the thought of not being alone anymore.</p>
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